SYNOPSIS: A child psychologist tries to solve the murder with the only witness being an autistic child who witnessed the killing.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Dealing with past demons and holding the course to what you know is right. Trust no one, because everyone has secrets.

PROS AND CONS: By all accounts this should be a good film. It has a good cast and the direction and cinematography are top notch. However, I found the film very unbelievable.

What becomes evident after the first 10 minutes, is that the film takes place in fantasy land, which in this case is upper class New England. The world in which it takes place is to perfect. The houses are all mansions and elegantly appointed and manicured. There is no garbage, no television sets, dirty cars or poor middle class people in sight.

Add to this the implausibility of the crime and how it is solved. I hope and pray that this is not how police pathology and crime solving is actually conducted. Even though I am not a police officer, it was evident that the crime scene at the beginning of the film was irrevocably compromised by letting anyone and everyone wander through the house touching and moving everything in sight

The acting is all well done, Dreyfuss is no slouch, neither is Lithgow. But I was puzzled at how Linda Hamilton got top billing when her screen time is under 5 minutes and her contribution to the plot is nil. Liv Tyler (in her debut role) is the female lead in the film, but it appears that Ms. Hamilton had the better agent / negotiator concerning her billing.